BMO Harris is leaving a trail of defaults and lawsuits in the agriculture industry after being one of its most aggressive and prominent lenders in the 2010's, according to Reuters.
Ohio corn and soybean producer Greg Kruger experienced the investment bank's lending practices firsthand. He had asked the bank for a $2 million loan to build a grain elevator in 2013 and had walked away with a $5 million loan for the elevator and another $7 million to finance crops, machinery and debt consolidation - after just one half hour phone call.
Kruger even offered the bank supply receipts of sold grain and documentation, to which his loan officer reportedly responded: “‘Don’t worry. We’ll make the numbers work’.”
Now about a half decade after BMO Harris "aggressively expanded" its U.S. farm loan portfolio, it has called in Kruger's loans and is filing to seize his farm. Corn and soy prices have both collapsed and the U.S. is now engaged in a years-long trade war with China that shows no signs of an imminent resolution.
In its wake, BMO Harris is leaving a trail of farmers just like Kruger, who have lost everything. And the bank, a subsidiary of Bank of Montreal, is struggling to recoup many of its investments through bitter legal fights.
John Blanchfield, founder of Agricultural Banking Advisory Services said: “BMO Harris did push for growth, and they’ve had some of those deals blow up spectacularly in their faces.”
The struggles are indicative of how the farming industry has struggled overall. Farmers are now struggling to pay back loans or obtain new ones and shrinking cash flow has caused some farmers to retire early. Growing scores of farmers are also declaring bankruptcy.
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http://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/meet-lender-turned-us-farming-industry-vortex-defaults-and-lawsuits
Realist - Everybody in America is soft, and hates conflict. The cure for this, both in politics and social life, is the same -- hardihood. Give them raw truth.
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